Facebook takes historic plunge as scandals take a toll
Facebook Inc.’s scandals are finally hitting the company where it hurts: growth.
The social-media goliath’s financial performance had previously seemed immune to fierce criticism of its content policies, its failure to safeguard private data, and its changing rules for advertisers. But on Wednesday Facebook reported sales and user growth numbers that fell short of analysts’ projections. The second-quarter results left investors reeling.
The company’s shares plunged as much as 24 percent in after-hours trading, driving the market value down by $151 billion at one point. If the sell-off hits those levels in Thursday trading, it will mark one the largest collapses in value ever suffered by a U.S.-traded company in a day. The stock was down 17 percent at $181.25 in premarket trade Thursday, after having closed at $217.50 in regular trading.
